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Erickson's Urban Waterfall by Guy Babineau
"You can't fight City Hall," goes the old adage. Yet the Waterfall Building, an innovative urban live/ work development in Vancouver, British Columbia, is proof that you can fight City Hall — and win. In this case, the city wins too. Zoning laws that were relaxed to permit the unconventional design will pave the way for similar projects in the future.
This fine example of new urbanism that challenges conventional ideas about condominium living was designed by the world-renowned Vancouver architect Arthur Erickson in collaboration with Nick Milkovich Architects. Completed in the fall of 2001, it graces a busy thoroughfare in a mixed residential and commercial neighborhood adjacent to the downtown core.
Nearby is popular Granville Island, reclaimed industrial land beneath one of the city's main bridges which in the late 1970s and early 80s was transformed into a bustling community of shops, theaters, restaurants, bars, and hotels. Directly north across a slender inlet rises a shocking slam of city center skyscrapers lorded over by Canada's spectacular Coast Mountains, which are responsible for strict building codes that enforce view corridors and height restrictions.
The Waterfall Building is actually five separate buildings of concrete and glass. They encircle a central courtyard featuring a glass atrium that houses the Ballard Lederer Gallery. The atrium is book-ended with terraced gardens. Other buildings of the complex are connected by metal staircases that have a raw, industrial esthetic and by cantilevered walkways with glass railings. Totaling 60,000 square feet (5600 square meters), the Waterfall Building comprises 38 artist studios and 49 split- level residential units flexibly designed to accommodate further add-ons and design considerations by resident work-at-home professionals.
Upper units are connected to the rooftop by external spiral steel staircases. Residents of these spaces also "own" the section of rooftop immediately above. The roof, which commands a spectacular view of the skyline and mountains, is fringed by grass lawn. Exposed cages housing the facility's electrical and mechanical equipment will soon be covered in vines.
The facility is equipped with Internet access via a fiber- optic system 10,000 times faster than cable modem. But there are interesting uses of "low-tech" as well. The wide open spaces and large windows keep the living and working spaces cool in summer. Mild Vancouver winters are warmed up by penny-saving radiant hot water channeled within the floors.
"We wanted to get away from typical commercial and residential configurations where people have their backs to the wall and faces to the view," says Erickson. He is referring to the units' multi-directional, M.C. Escher- like placement of glazed walls and floor-to-ceiling windows which capture as much light as possible — pretty important in a climate with so many gray days. "We wanted to emphasize the freedom of space, openness, and sense of community."
Ever the passionate modernist — and anti-postmodernist — Erickson drew inspiration for such communal openness from the fifty-year-old Unite d'Habitation by Le Corbusier.
A Role in the City
The building gets its name from an Erickson-designed waterfall of recirculated water that plunges down in the middle of the main street-level entrance. This embodies his stated belief that as well as fulfilling function, architecture should offer visitors and passers-by a rewarding experience.
A further benefit of the waterfall is sound masking. Step past it into the complex's central courtyard, and you can hardly hear the buzz of traffic or hum of industry. The developer, Steven Hynes, once taught philosophy at the Simon Fraser University campus, which was also designed by Erickson. Hynes was interested in creating a new kind of community, a lifestyle laboratory addressing the 21st century requirements of the city's growing number of creative entrepreneurs, including artists, designers, filmmakers, gallery owners, PR specialists, writers, producers, and so on.
The building is an example of visionary architecture that simultaneously — and successfully — addresses high- density issues, transit and transportation problems, topography and light, and access to digital communications.
Bending the Rules for Good Design
Because of the design's community-conscious amenities, Vancouver's senior planners gave it several exceptions to local zoning laws. For instance, the Waterfall Building is taller than the 40-foot(12-meter) height restriction normally enforced in this part of the city. The overage was allowed because of all the building's community-conscious amenities.
The planners also permitted higher live/ work ratios. Normally, the law allows up to 30 percent residential in such a facility. This and another building by the same developer were responsible for safety-conscious city planners allowing any combination of residential and commercial occupancies. The officials now hope to see more projects of a similar nature.
Vancouver's metropolitan population has doubled in the last 30 years to about 2.2 million living on a very limited land area, so density is a big issue. Expo 86, an enormous influx of people from Asia before Hong Kong's reversion to China in 1997, and the city's recent incarnation as the continent's third-largest film and TV production center, have all contributed to the boom — and an urban planning nightmare. The city now has more cars per capita than Los Angeles.
Strategies for Accommodating Growth
The problem is that many don't want to admit that Vancouver is no longer a bucolic backwater, a playground getaway of sea and ski. Cranes hover on the skyline, piling one layer of matchbox units atop another and contributing to a new cluster of lackluster glass curtain-wall buildings that conjure up "The Jetsons," a 1960s cartoon vision of the future.
During the growth spurt, rather than creating mixed-use architecture to respond to the city's dramatically beautiful geography and rain-filtered light, most developers threw up their hands in frustration, laziness, or cheapness and erected unimaginative, plain, repetitive edifices, perhaps hoping that being conventional meant being unobtrusive. The opposite effect occurred. A rash of bleak apartment blocks went up in the 1960s and 70s. At the time, visiting urban theorist Jane Jacobs called Vancouver "drab." This drabness was in stark contrast to the city's older residential neighborhoods where, as in most west coast American cities, a Disneyish cacophony of different styles and "isms" are jumbled together: sleek modernist homes, ranchstyle bungalows, miniature fairytale castles, and traditional Prairie Style residences. Adding to this diversity are decades worth of Erickson-designed buildings, such as the three-block long complex, Robson Square.
"I think that's been one of Vancouver's assets," says Erickson. "Its lack of conformity and, as a result, an openness to new ideas." He thinks that the future resides here, citing the city's notable Asian connection and proximity. (He and many local architects are hard at work on projects in China.)
City planners have been vigilant about rules and regulations with respect to the city's natural environment and views. In the case of live/ work spaces, safety issues come first. Yet, says Erickson, "If you're committed you can convince people here to do something different."
The proof is in projects like the Waterfall Building. Jane Jacobs visited Vancouver this past January and had a change of heart. She said it would be a nice place to live.
Originally published on ArchitectureWeek.com © Guy Babineau 2003-2004
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